Mozilla, a company known for its Firefox browser, has announced its purchase of online bookmarking service Pocket, for an undisclosed amount. The company calls it its very first "strategic acquisition."
Founded in 2007 by Nate Weiner, Pocket helps users save interesting articles, videos, and more from the web for later access on a personal computer, or a mobile device. What sets the service apart from a regular bookmark service is that it saves the content for offline usage, perfect when an internet connection is not present.
According to Mozilla"s blog post, Pocket has more than 10 million monthly active users, with 3 billion pieces of content saved to date.
Mozilla"s CEO Chris Beard offered a few words regarding the acquisition. He shares:
“We believe that the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content is key to keeping the internet healthy by fighting against the rising tide of centralization and walled gardens. Pocket provides people with the tools they need to engage with and share content on their own terms, independent of hardware platform or content silo, for a safer, more empowered and independent online experience.”
Meanwhile, Pocket"s Nate Weiner expressed optimism on the acquisition:
“We’ve really enjoyed partnering with Mozilla over the past year. We look forward to working more closely together to support the ongoing growth of Pocket and to create great new products that people love in support of our shared mission.”
As a new subsidiary of Mozilla, Pocket will become a new product line alongside Firefox, with a focus on promoting the discovery of high quality online content. It will also help power the company"s Context Graph Initiative.